I wanted to create the pad file for a thru-hole pin using pad editor. The hole has a 1mm radius. I set BEGIN LAYER to 2mm.
Is BEGIN LAYER the copper layer adjacent to the hole on the top side of the PCB? And if I set its radius to 2mm would this mean the copper pad ring will have a thickness of 1 mm (assuming, hypothetically, 0 mm tolerance)?
What also confuses me is how the assignment of the radius of SOLDERMASK_TOP layer works. If for example I set it to 2.2 mm would this mean I will have a ring of solder mask between a radius of 2mm and a radius of 2.2mm? But I thought the solder mask was supposed to cover copper surfaces, I'm trully confused about how I should set its radius and what it would actually mean.
Solder mask artwork is negative, the solder mask pad defines the opening. With usual non-solder-mask-defined pad, the solder mask pad is oversized by 0.1 to 0.2 mm.
By thickness i mean the distance between the inner length between the two radii (the value of the radius chosen for begin layer and the value of the radius chosen for drill). This is how I see it in my head
Is this representation accurate?